INAUGURAL MEETING: 27 AUGUST 2021

 What a great afternoon we had last Friday for the first proper meeting of our new group.  Sadly about half a dozen had sent their apologies, but we needn’t have worried as 18 people dropped in including six visitors, three of whom, Sheila, Dave and Jannine, we hope will become regulars.  We had asked that members bring a friend along and we’re thrilled that Linda née Tyrrell, who wrote the long poem of childhood in the 50s for our Sprotbrough book, and Trish née Lyth, daughter of John Lyth, the vicar of St Mary’s Church for so many years, who both now live away, arrived with John Walton and his brother, Richard.  We hope others from home or away will decide to join us in future. 

 

The meeting opened with a welcome to friends old and new by Cynthia, our delegated, but honoured chairperson, and continued with a Health and Safety check by Mick, as required by the church authorities, in his new role, which he has taken on in addition to already being chief furniture remover.  All the usual things, like where the toilets are and not lifting anything heavy or taking care to avoid slipping and falling, as well as the continuing Covid precautions, were included, although there was little evidence of worry over the latter, as everyone was seemingly putting all their trust in their double jabs.  Mick was on the ball though, making sure all the right things were done. 

 

My role is basically to organise meetings and keep everybody informed of what is happening and to look after the money.  I had produced an attendance sheet with a column to note who had paid the meeting fee of £2 for the first time.  Unfortunately, everyone wrote down that they had paid before I had been given any money so I became a little confused when £5 and £10 notes and silver began to be pressed into my hand.  Thankfully it all worked out in the end, but perhaps a different method of checking in on arrival is needed in future. 

 

We had also asked that people bring along photos of anything Sprotbrough related and Cynthia announced that Maurice had brought an old compact camera, Jill had borrowed an old map of the village, which someone had kindly brought into the library that morning, and John had brought a framed sketch drawn from above Levitt Hagg looking towards St Mary’s Church.  All these were available to study at leisure later, but first we needed to have introductions. 

 

We seem to do introductions at every meeting as it’s important to remind us of names when we only meet once a month and, as there were six ‘strangers’, it was good to know who they were.  Despite three of them having been born in the village, most of us hadn’t seen them for possibly 50 years so didn’t recognise them. 

 

Apart from learning names, it’s amazing how the conversation flows from this, with people, places and occasions being brought to mind and leading off on unexpected tangents.  Consequently, this part of the meeting lasted about an hour before our valiant tea ladies set off for the kitchen. 

 

I must at this point introduce you to our tea ladies.  Jean and Jayne served us well all through the oral history meetings and unhesitatingly volunteered to carry on the good work.  They both married locals so don’t think they have much to offer in terms of history, but they have lived in Sprotbrough for years now and so in fact must have a great deal.  But I digress, as I have to report that Jayne announced that she has just passed her second grade in food hygiene, so I guess she’s in charge now, despite the fact that Jean has been trained in washing up for at least twice as long as Jayne!  We promised Jean we wouldn’t leave her without a distinction in due course. 

 

Tea or coffee was served direct to people this time, as had been the normal practice in the past, but we may have to encourage everyone to collect their refreshments from the hatch in future as it will be good exercise and make everyone stretch their legs after sitting still for an hour!  The problem is, no-one ever stops talking, which is a big distraction.  So whilst everyone was partaking of drinks and chocolate biscuits, they separated to discuss the items described above that had been brought, as well as photographs of people who had since left the village but turn up to visit from time to time, and other interesting things.. 

 

Before we knew it, our time was up and clearing up commenced with sanitising and stacking of chairs, etc.  It’s always difficult to get people out of the door at 4 pm as someone always has something else left to say, but off they go eventually so that we can lock up and go home. 

 

But what a joy it is to meet so many enthusiastic, interesting and fun-loving people.   There really is no need to be lonely when you would be more than welcome to join us on the last Friday of each month at 2 pm at Sprotbrough Church Hall on Main Street.   By the way, Arthur knows where all the best conker trees are – or were!  Perhaps you might disagree.  We look forward to seeing you.

 

Liz

General Dogsbody

 

PLEASE NOTE MY NEW EMAIL:  sprotbroughvillagehistorygroup@gmail.com   

 

NEW BLOG ADDRESS:  https://sprotbroughvillagehistorygroup1.blogspot.com/